Thursday, October 2

Jim Hummel took a look at some recent City Hall spending in his Oct. 2 report revealing that Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt's son and members of his baseball league were the only workers in a Woonsocket "summer jobs" program.

According to documents obtained by Hummel, the workers - 10 boys between the ages of 15 and 18 – earned some $5,700 this year in part time street cleaning positions that were never advertised.

Baldelli-Hunt tells Hummel "The amount of people that knew about it... more

Thursday, July 3

A wise man once said, “never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.”

The source of the quote is disputed, and the message can be both liberating and cringe-worthy for journalists. Professional integrity requires that journalists strive to rise above the political infighting and accusations that sadly seem to come with too many elected offices. But a reporter ultimately choses what goes into print and what stays out. A single reporter at a well-established publication... more

Friday, February 21

I was getting ready to leave Landmark Medical Center just past 7 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 20 when the announcement came over the intercom. "Code Silver" a calm female voice announced, then repeated. I was visiting a nephew who had just been through an emergency appendix surgery and he, still pale and in recovery, and my sister, his mother, made light of the strange announcement.

"Do they not use 'code red' anymore because it sounds too scary?" I asked, somewhat naively. We forgot about... more

Thursday, December 5

Much has been said about the reasons for Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt's landslide win in Woonsocket's municipal election in November.

Was it her well organized group of volunteers? A grassroots door to door effort? Her record on the House floor? Her political platform, or well thought out message for voters? Her abundance of signs, flyers and political advertisements?

I, for one, believe the the answer is simple. Faced with declining property values and tax bills they couldn't... more

Tuesday, November 26

Olly's Pizzeria on South Main Street in Woonsocket celebrated their 36th birthday this month.

"So what?" you ask. As my editor was quick to point out after hearing I'd attended the event, an odd birthday of a small, local pizza joint isn't exactly front page news.

And yet, a crowd of around 50 locals crammed into the shop for the afternoon weekday celebration including Supt. Giovanna Donoyan, Police Chief Thomas Carey, City Councilor Robert Moreau, Zoning Board member Norman... more

Tuesday, October 1

A story regarding a proposal to fill vacancies on the Woonsocket Fire Department with “on call” employees has taken on a life of its own, thanks, in part, to a misinterpretation of an article I penned for the September 26 edition.

It is true that the Woonsocket Budget Commission passed an enactment that is slated to change how the city hires employees for the job. The Breeze was the only media present at the meeting where the enactment was passed last week.